Chapter 13

"..."

Qi Yue promptly closed the panel and opened his "magic" book to review and reinforce what Teacher Bai had taught.

He didn't dare sleep. He didn't dare sleep at all.

The next day.

The First Hunter Academy.

"That old man Li is getting more muddleheaded with age. What nonsense is he up to now?!" Early that morning, after reading the email from Li Qin, Dean Zong Qizheng let out an angry shout in his office.

"Dean Zong, what's Dean Li done now?" Zong Qizheng's secretary, Ba Wen, asked in puzzlement.

"See for yourself." Zong Qizheng had little patience for such tedious trifles.

A few seconds later, Ba Wen finished reading Li Qin's email and sucked in a breath. "That's impossible. There's no way the Esper Detection Crystal Balls sold in limited quantities by the First Hunter Academy could—"

Ding-dong~

"You have a new email from Dean Li of the Seventh Hunter Academy. Please check it."

Zong Qizheng gestured outward with his palm. Ba Wen nodded and opened the email. It contained just one photo.

A group photo of the shattered remains of the Esper Detection Crystal Balls.

Ba Wen said, "...Dean Zong, you'd better... see for yourself."

Three seconds later, Zong Qizheng said, "..."

The fact was, it really had shattered. This time, Dean Li truly wasn't talking nonsense.

Five minutes later, Attas Flint, a noble and the finest hunter trainee in the First Hunter Academy's Class A, stood before Zong Qizheng.

After hearing the situation, Asta smiled and bowed, then straightened. "I await your instructions, Dean."

"Atas, remember this. You must determine whether the Esper Detection Crystal Ball that exploded came from the First Hunter Academy, and uncover the truth behind the explosion. Most importantly..."

Zong Qizheng's gaze turned cold. "Bring back everyone involved in blowing up the Esper Detection Crystal Ball." The First Hunter Academy's reputation came before everything else. Slander and provocation would not be tolerated.

Chapter 13

"I will bring you a satisfactory result." Atas Flint placed a hand over his chest and backed away a few steps, maintaining his salute before turning around and leaving the office.

"Atas."

Hearing the voice, Atas turned his head. In the garden beyond the corridor railing, a boy with cyan hair waved at him.

"Xiao." Atas smiled back and walked over to his friend.

"What did the dean want with you?" Xiao Yiyuan blinked and asked curiously.

"It's a secret." Atas pressed his index and middle fingers together against his lips and smiled.

"Am I still your best friend or not?" Xiao Yiyuan complained. "I'll keep your secret. Trust me."

"All right, I can tell you a little." Atas gave in. "I'll be away for a while, about a week. Anyway, I'll be back soon. I'm going to the Seventh Hunter Academy."

"What are you going to that godforsaken place for?" Xiao Yiyuan's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Their academy had no exchange program with any other academy that month. Besides, the students sent to other academies on exchange had always been from the lowest-ranked Class F. Since when was it their Class A's turn?

Atas shook his head. "I can't tell you that."

Seeing Atas's resolve, Xiao Yiyuan finally let him off and only said, "Come back soon."

"Don't worry. It's only the Seventh Hunter Academy, a rabble. Trust me, I'll be back with good news soon. All right, enough talk. I need to get going as soon as possible."

"Get ready to celebrate for me, Xiao." Atas patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Okay~"

Xiao Yiyuan waved goodbye to Atas.

The Seventh Hunter Academy.

For once, Li Qin was sitting in the dean's office this early. He had even turned on his computer, put on his reading glasses, and leaned close to the screen.

Yu Kaicheng, who had been summoned there early in the morning, had no idea what the dean was busy doing.

As Zong Qizheng's teacher, Li Qin knew some of his habits very well. For instance, the man liked to get to his office at six in the morning to check his emails. Li Qin deliberately timed his second email to arrive when Zong Qizheng was checking his inbox. Only after confirming that the other man had opened it did he say, "Done!"

Li Qin took off his reading glasses and relaxed against the back of his chair, feeling completely at ease.

"What's done, Dean?" Yu Kaicheng was thoroughly confused. He ventured a guess. "Did the First Hunter Academy reply to your email? Did they agree to give us another Esper Detection Crystal Ball?"

Other than the Esper Detection Crystal Ball exploding, he couldn't think of any reason the dean would get up and come to the office so early. Nobody liked working, and the dean was no exception.

"Ah..." Hearing Yu Kaicheng's voice, Li Qin seemed to notice only then that there was someone else in the room.

"No, they didn't. Zong Qizheng is still angry with an old man like me. He won't reply to me now." During the last monthly assessment, he really had gone a little too far berating Zong Qizheng over Beixing. But Zong Qizheng had barred Beixing from competing and even tried to kill Beixing.

"But that doesn't matter."

"Then what does..." Before Yu Kaicheng could finish, the white-haired old man, who had been dismissive until then, suddenly looked up and stared straight at him, cutting him off.

"What matters is that today's exchange day, isn't it?"

Yu Kaicheng nodded. "Yes. Exchange students from the Sixth Hunter Academy will be coming today." Their own exchange students would also be going to the Sixth Hunter Academy.

Li Qin nodded. "That's right. There may be someone from the First Hunter Academy among the exchange students arriving today." If there was, Qi Yue probably had nothing to do with the First Hunter Academy. Of course, it wasn't certain; Zong Qizheng could also be putting on an act.

At regular intervals, the hunter academies allocated exchange spots, sending students to study at each other's academies for a week.

Understanding dawned on Yu Kaicheng belatedly. "Dean, I understand what you mean. I'll tell Teacher Liao what to say and do. But..."

"What about testing Qi Yue's superpower? We can't leave it unknown forever, can we?" Without the dean's approval, he didn't dare let Qi Yue use any of the six remaining crystal balls for another test. He was afraid that if they all exploded, the academy's operations would collapse completely.

"In any case..." Li Qin's head ached. "Even if there's only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, we can't try again." They couldn't let any more detection crystal balls explode.

"The First Hunter Academy gets to choose the location for the next monthly assessment. How about... letting Qi Yue use one of their crystal balls?" Yu Kaicheng suggested.

"No." Li Qin refused without a second thought. "Director Yu, you've guessed it too, haven't you? I never mentioned Qi Yue or Class F in my email. Until everything becomes clear, it can only be a 'quality' issue, just as Qi Yue said."

"...All right, Dean." Though he suspected Qi Yue's origins and motives, the dean still counted Qi Yue as part of the Seventh Hunter Academy until the truth came to light. He was as softhearted as ever.

After turning three more pages, Qi Yue found that the person outside the door was still lingering without any intention of knocking. He got up and opened his dorm room door.

"Beixing, did you need something?"

The tightly shut dorm room door suddenly opened. Hearing the voice, Beixing slowly looked up. A slender boy stood holding the doorknob, looking down at him. It was Qi Yue.

Beixing was surprised.

"Y-you're awake this early?!" It was only a little past six in the morning. There were still more than two hours before today's superpower class began. He had intended to wait until around eight before knocking on Qi Yue's dorm room door.

"Sorry, did I w-wake you?" Beixing quickly assumed it was his fault.

"No," Qi Yue said. He had woken at five thirty to finish the review he hadn't completed yesterday. "I just couldn't sleep."

"I-insomnia? Sorry, I... I can't help you with that." Beixing had never experienced insomnia. Before Qi Yue arrived, sleeping had been what he did most every day.

Qi Yue smiled and nodded. "You could say that."

Being too afraid to sleep, insomnia... Either way, the result was the same.

After all, rounded off, he more or less had no superpower. He still had three weeks of days like this, when "the moment you open your eyes, you study and practice until you drop, as long as it won't kill you." Thinking of the dark days ahead, the smile on Qi Yue's lips grew weary. For the sake of his forum account, he was giving it his all.

Qi Yue stepped aside. "Would you like to come in?"

It was his first time being invited to visit a classmate's dorm room, and the person inviting him was Qi Yue, the king of Class F's social scene!

"...Thank you." Suppressing his excitement, Beixing walked into Qi Yue's dorm room.

"Have a seat."

Qi Yue pulled out a chair for Beixing and poured him a glass of water.

Beixing cupped the glass in both hands and took a small sip. The warm water made him realize belatedly that he still hadn't said why he had come to see Qi Yue. He looked up and explained awkwardly, "I-I wanted to ask if I could join your training."

"Hm?" Qi Yue showed a timely look of puzzlement.

"Today's the superpower class. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help when you use your superpower..." Beixing had rehearsed this in his head before coming, and he finally managed to get a whole long sentence out smoothly. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The superpower class was formally called the Superpower Potential Activation Class. It had been established to improve the trainees' superpower abilities. On this day, whether they exchanged pointers and sparred with one another or practiced alone, the trainees could use their superpowers to their hearts' content, improving their proficiency and strength through practice.

Qi Yue said, "..."

However, he didn't know how to use his superpower. If he trained with everyone else without using it, or trained alone without using it, either could draw attention and suspicion.

But...

Qi Yue's gaze fell on Beixing, who had his head lowered and was slowly sipping his water.

With Beixing beside him, even if he approached today's class differently, everyone would think he was "training" Beixing. They would also think he was refusing to use his superpower during training because he was afraid of hurting Beixing.

"Of course you can." Qi Yue was happy to oblige and held out his hand to Bei Xing. "Bei Xing, I'm glad you're joining me."